The Last Showdown
by Smuffy
Summary: Okay, I've decided to discontinue thsi story as I know I won't finish it. Besides, you would have KILLED me for what I did to Lara. However, I offer the final chapter, the ending, so at least you will know now what happened.
1. Retirement

The roof was starting to cave in. Rocks were falling around me. I grabbed the ledge but my hands started to slip. I couldn't hold on any longer. I fell.  
I desperately tried to stop myself. As I fell I tried grabbing the rocks, but they slipped through my fingers. Then, ten feet short of the bottom, where I would have met my death, my right hand grabbed something. I found a crack. I shimmied along and climbed up.  
I started to find a way to the surface. Many corridors were now blocked, but I found my way.  
Near the top, I mistakenly walked into a poison dart trap. I carefully ran through it, but one dart missed my back by centimetres. As I finally climbed to the top, I noticed a camp nearby. I hid behind a crate. I heard a shout coming from far away. I looked over cautiously.  
A shaft was dug into the side of the pyramid. They were digging - for me.  
Looking over, I saw my former teacher and adversary for the Amulet of Horus - Werner Von Croy.  
I was feeling unwell, so I reached for my backpack to get a medikit. All I could feel was the fabric of my top. My backpack was gone. It must have been taken off when that dart nearly hit me.  
I looked over at the camp again. Everyone was rushing towards the pyramid, talking excitedly in Arabic. I saw Von Croy go as well. He returned ten minutes later, holding my broken backpack.  
He sat down in a chair in front of me. He looked at my pack and muttered, 'She's alive.'  
I crept behind him, took the safety off my gun, held it to his head and said, 'And I'll be having that back, thank you.'  
'What?' he said, shocked.  
He turned around to look at me. I put my gun away and smiled.  
'Hello, Werner,' I said.  
'Lara!'  
He stood up and walked towards me as if to embrace me, but I stepped away and pointed my gun at him. I was grateful for him trying to save me, but I was angry at him for trying to kill me for the Amulet.  
'What is wrong, my child?'  
'Well, in case you didn't notice, you almost killed me, Werner!'  
'Ah, yes, that little misunderstanding about the Amulet. Where is it, by the way?'  
I smirked. He wasn't going to get me that easily.  
'It was destroyed in the collapse.'  
Werner looked as if he had been punched in the stomach. I took my backpack out of his frozen hands and walked away. The Amulet was not destroyed, of course, it was in the pack. As an afterthought, I placed it back in its rightful position in the side of the pyramid. Set was re-imprisoned.  
  
That night, I paid a visit to my old friend to let him know that I was okay. He let me stay the night and early the next morning I caught a boat to Spain, and I flew home from Madrid that night. There were terrible sandstorms that night in Egypt and I knew that there was no way that Von Croy could communicate with my family. I smiled. I had a surprise for them.  
I got home at about midnight. The house was deserted, but the study light was on. I smiled. Everyone was in my Trophy Room.  
I slowly opened the door a little and peeked in. Father Patrick, Winston and Charles Kane were there. I smiled. Father Patrick was holding the Philosopher's Stone, one of my earlier yet hardest conquests. I thought about the things I had to fight. Bloody Gladiators... I'll tell you later.  
Anyway, as I opened the door, a bolt of lightning flashed - a great lighting effect. All anyone could see was my silhouette as the only source of light was the fire on the other side of the room.  
I could see Father Patrick beside the fire, crossing himself as if I were a spirit.  
The looks on everyone's faces were priceless. I almost laughed. Eventually, I said, 'I believe you were expecting me.'  
  
'... That was great fun,' Lara said, smiling at the memory. 'But I thought the statue was a bit premature. I'd only been missing a couple of days.'  
Lara looked at me and smiled, then she went back to her hot chocolate. I felt very privileged to know such a person as her, let alone work with her.  
My full name is Victoria Hermione Anne McDermott-Lawrence, but to Lara Henshingly Croft, world-famous adventurer and archaeologist, I'm just Hermione.  
I sat in awe beside her as she told her exciting story about her miraculous escape to me. She sighed and turned to me.  
'You know, I wish I could still do those sorts of things.'  
I laughed. 'Why? I think you're insane.'  
'Thanks, Victoria.'  
She knew that when she wanted to annoy me, she would call me by my first name. I don't know why I preferred my middle name, as it was very unpopular, but I like it better.  
'But seriously, Hermione, I'm just getting too old to adventure, unfortunately.'  
'No, Lara, you're only 35. Egypt was only four years ago. How old was Von Croy when he took you to Cambodia? 40?'  
Lara sighed. 'Yeah, I suppose. But I went back into the gym the other day and I couldn't jump as long as I used to. You know exercise 4? I couldn't do it. And I built that gym when I was 28, barely seven years ago.'  
I laughed. 'Come on Lara, I'm 24 and I can't even do that jump. Only you could do such a thing as that.'  
Lara sighed. 'I know, Mione. I'm thinking about retiring.'  
I nearly dropped my mug.  
'You're not serious!'  
She nodded. 'I am. My adventuring days are over.'  
I shook my head. 'But Lara, you love adventuring more than life itself.'  
'I know. I can't rid myself of the thrill of the chase.'  
'But Lara, no one does what you do anymore. After you, there will be no one left.'  
'That's because they're not as stupid as I am. Maybe if I took on an understudy, a replacement.'  
'You already have an understudy, and no one can replace you.'  
I had been working as an assistant for Lara for two years, when she started to adventure again. Nothing too big, just minor missions.  
Adventuring with her opened my eyes to the world. It stirred something within me. I don't know if it was a bug for travel, or adventuring. Although I loved it a lot, there was no way I could do the latter.  
Lara's face brightened. 'I have a perfect replacement in mind.'  
'Who?'  
She smiled at me. 'You.'  
I shook my head. 'No way Lara. There is no way I could do it.'  
She laughed. 'When I was 16, when Von Croy took me to Cambodia, I thought that there was no way I could do that. I was terrified. It was way too risky. But then the crash happened, and when Rich died and I had to rely on myself to survive... that changed me. I nearly died out there, but Rich told me to get out, told me to get away. And I listened to him. I did what he told me, and I've been doing it ever since. But I'm tired, Mione, I've had enough missions for a lifetime. Starting with Von Croy and finishing in Egypt, I've done about 50 missions. And every one of them was for Rich.'  
Richard Parker-Whiteley was Lara's boyfriend and soulmate. When she was 21, after finishing school, Lara, Richard and some friends went on a skiing trip to the Himalayas. Their plane crashed right in the middle of the mountains, on the border of Nepal. Lara proved the be the only survivor.  
Everyone except her and Richard were killed instantly. Richard suffered massive injuries and died three days later. When Lara came home, she was a mess, emotionally and physically. It took her years to get over his death. In the end, when she was 24, my age, she started adventuring and writing books about her adventures to fund her trips since was now cut off from the family fortune after her father disowned her. She had everything everyone can dream about. A successful and rich career, a job she loved, and every material success in the world and the celebrity status that came with it.  
But there was one thing missing from her life - love. When Richard died, a part of her died with him. She felt she could never love again, and she never has. She has just thrown herself into her work.   
I had hinted to her about settling down but she just ignored me. Well, that's Lara for you.  
After Egypt, I had tried to get Lara back out doing what she loved, but she had lost all confidence. She told me she realised that what she was doing was too dangerous, and she didn't want Richard to have died almost in vain when she was risking her life every time she left the house.  
She hired me to assist her in taking care of her finances and her affairs, and I occasionally went on mini-missions with her. I was never any good, though. I would scream at the sight of a mouse and all I could do was hand Lara ammunition when she had to shoot something. I would climb up high until it was safe. I was a scaredy-cat.  
She used to tease me with tales of the horrible monsters she faced. Her most notable was the Abomination.  
I sat with her and tried to convince her of not retiring, and she tried to convince me of being able to replace her. Her argument was more convincing.  
'Look, Hermione, no obligations. Just meet me in the gym tomorrow morning at ten and we'll see what we can do.'  
'No obligations?'  
She smiled. 'None whatsoever.'  
I nodded. 'I'll try.'  
'That's the Hermione I know and love. Okay, go to bed and get some rest, and bring some light training clothes with you.'  
'Okay.'  
That night, I lay awake in bed thinking about the very real possibility of me having to replace Lara. I thought all night.  
Could I become a Tomb Raider?  



	2. Setback

I rocked up at Lara's house the next day dressed in just some cargo shorts and a singlet top. She let me in and I was amazed to find the entire lobby covered in crates.  
'What happened?'  
'I'm having some more things put into storage. They haven't picked them up yet. Anyway,' she smiled, 'they are perfect training for an area that I think is one of your weakest.'  
I looked at the crates. They were three sizes. The smallest came up to my knees, the medium sized ones came up to around my waist, and the tallest ones came up over my head.  
'And how are we going to get to the gym?'  
'We have to climb over these crates.'  
'You're kidding.'  
'No. Let's go.'  
'You know I can't vault up.'  
'Precisely. That's why we're doing it.'  
I started with the smallest crate. That was easy, but the medium sized was a little difficult. Eventually, I hoisted myself up, put my knees on the crate and climbed up. Now I knew why Lara sometimes needed knee pads on the hard rock.  
The tallest crate posed the greatest challenge. I could hold onto it, but I just couldn't pull myself up. I let go a couple of times and fell back on the floor. Lara suggested I take a small run so the momentum would get me up. That failed. Eventually, Lara had to push my legs up.  
When we finally made it to the gym and I jumped off the crate, Lara spoke to me.  
'We've really gotta work on the big rocks, cos they are the ones you come across most often. Anyway, when we're finished, we can work on that again. Let's do the exercises.'  
The first one was completely useless. It was demonstrating simply how to walk to the edge of ledges.  
'I know how to walk, Lara.'  
'I know Hermione, but you've got to be careful.'  
I jumped off the platform and onto the next exercise. It was what we called a standing jump, which means that you stand at the edge of the ledge and jump and grab the other ledge. This would mean I would have to try to hoist myself up again.  
I did as Lara instructed. I walked to the edge and stopped.  
'What now?' I asked, even though I knew perfectly well what to do. Well, Lara told me to approach it as if I knew nothing about it.  
'You know what to do, Hermione.'  
'No I don't.'  
Lara sighed. 'Yes, I know, you're bringing my words back to haunt me. Well, I will humour you. Okay, jump forward. You probably won't land on the ledge, so reach out and grab the edge.'  
I got ready to jump. I bent my knees and jumped forward. I knew I wouldn't land, so I reached out to grab the ledge. I grabbed it and because I did, my body slammed into the side of the platform, including my face. As soon as I hit the side, I heard a sickening crack, and then I could feel warm liquid running down my mouth and chin. I could taste it on my lips and also in my throat.  
I also hit my head and I was dizzy, so I let go and fell to the floor. Within a couple of seconds, I was out cold.  
  
I woke up and I was asleep in Lara's bed. My nose was hurting like hell and I couldn't breathe through it either.   
I sat up too quickly, and my head was sore. I was extremely groggy, and my head was hurting badly. I put my hand to my forehead and felt the rising painful lump on my head.  
I lay back down in Lara's extremely comfortable bed. I looked down at myself and gasped. There was an extremely large blood stain covering my top. Just then, Lara walked in.  
'Hermione, are you alright? I was so worried about you. Come on, we've got to get you to hospital.'  
'What?'  
'Come on, let's go.'  
Lara drove me to hospital where I had x-rays taken. I can't remember much of this, since I was so groggy. Anyway, I remember the doctor saying I had a severe concussion and my nose was broken in three places. It was scary. When it had set, he said, I would have to have plastic surgery to repair the damage. Plus, I had to wear this extremely ugly brace for three weeks. He said I must have hit it extremely hard to inflict this kind of damage.  
As we were leaving to take me home, I asked Lara how she doesn't break her nose whenever she grabs a ledge.  
'I turn my head to the side,' she smiled. 'I learnt it the hard way, like you.'  
'That's real assurance, Lara. Anyway, how can I grab without breaking anything?'  
'Just turn your head to the side or up. Never put it down. Or, after you grab, quickly bring your knees up so your feet hit the wall and stop your body flying into it.'  
'But there's still a very big possibility that I won't get my feet up in time so I'll just hit my knees.'  
Lara shrugged. 'Yeah, there is that too. Forget I said that. Listen, come round my place tomorrow night and we'll talk. No training though.'  
I nodded. 'Okay. Sounds good.'  
  
I turned up at Lara's place the next evening. It was cold outside, so I just wore my beloved fake leather jacket, a pullover and some jeans.  
Lara served up dinner in her study/trophy room. It was absolutely covered in artefacts from Lara's previous conquests, including the Dagger of Xian, the four Antarctic/Polynesian artefacts, the Italian Philosopher's Stone, plus many others including the Spear of Destiny.  
The one that caught my eye was very unusual. It was sort of circular, and it had strange knob things on it. It looked as if it was able to come apart, in maybe three pieces.  
What it was made of was unusual also. I took alchemy in my senior years at high school, and I had never seen a material like it. It looked to be very thin, but it obviously must be strong, managing to survive Lara's perilous journeys. It also seemed to shimmer in different colours in the light, like oil after a rainstorm.  
Lara noted my interest. She smiled. 'Ah, I though that would catch your interest. That's my favourite artefact. That's the Atlantean Scion.'  
I almost choked on my dinner. 'What? Did you say Atlantean? As in Atlantis?'  
I was fascinated by the legend of the ancient mythical lost continent.  
Lara smiled. 'Yes, Atlantis exists. At least, it did ten years ago. A very interesting journey.'  
'Tell me the story,' I begged.  
Lara sighed. 'It's very long, but I know you'll enjoy it, Hermione. Some aspects I'm not quite sure of, so I've had to guess.  
It begins like this... once upon a time, thousands of years ago, Atlantis was in its prime. It had three rulers, Natla, Qualopec, and Tihocan...'  



	3. Tragedy

When I arrived at Lara's house, Winston looked very stony-faced as he opened to door, more stony-faced than usual. I also saw something in his eyes. I thought it was sadness.  
I also saw Father Patrick, Lara's old priest, standing behind him.  
'Is there anything wrong?' I asked.  
'Dear Hermione, I have terrible news,' Father Patrick said.  
'What is it, Father?'  
'I'm afraid Lara has passed away.'  
I was in complete shock. I couldn't speak properly.  
'What? When? Why?' I was blabbering.  
Father Patrick took me into the Trophy Room and sat me down. As he spoke, he held my hand.  
'A few days after you left for Egypt, some of Lara's internal injuries re-opened without the doctors realising. Before they could operate on her, it was too late.'  
'Oh my God. What was the date that day?'  
'The 15th.'  
'That was the day I left for the Pyramid. And that was also the day that...' I knew something important had also happened on that day, but I couldn't remember what. Then, I suddenly remembered.  
'It was the day that Richard died.'  
Father Patrick shook his head sadly. 'I knew Richard well. It was such a shame. He and Lara were soulmates.'  
I looked over to the photos of them together on the sideboard. There were two different ones, one taken when they were at school, and one taken a year later.  
The first was of them in their separate school uniforms, Lara in pigtails even though she was about 19 at the time. Richard stood behind her and held her around the waist. They looked blissfully happy.  
The second one was taken the next winter, them standing outside the Croft Manor in a similar pose, dressed in snow gear. It was just before the fateful trip.  
I sighed at the happy pictures. 'At least they're together now.'  
I walked over to the centre of the room, where four trophy cases sat on pedestals. One was empty.  
I opened the case and put the Scion safely back inside.  
'This is for you, Lara,' I whispered.  



End file.
